Monthly Archives: May 2020

David Spade tries to be the funny (ish) straight man to a funnier co-star one more time in “The Wrong Missy,” a Lauren Lapkus star vehicle so vulgar it’d make Mindy Kaling blanche. It’s as polished as an oil spill, … Continue reading →

  Here’s the thing, the only thing, that got me through “Don’t Run,” 78 minutes of bad-flirting-with-merely-mediocre horror from writer-director Ben Rood. His leading man, Danny Irazarry, looks and sounds a lot like Hal Hartley’s deadpan muse, James Urbaniak. It … Continue reading →

That’s the gist of this Hollywood Reporter piece. “A theatrical release increases the value of a film, throughout the value chain,” says Christian Bräuer, president of European art house cinemas group CICAE. https://t.co/X2QifYJU4T https://twitter.com/THR/status/1260574005863514120?s=20

The documentary as memoir may be the trickiest to pull off. In an era when obsession with “personal story” and “personal struggle,” it’s difficult to make one that stands out from what sounds like a chorus of Pavorittis warming up … Continue reading →

Even indie films can be “high concept,” a movie whose premise can be summed up in a single, short sentence. “Phoenix, Oregon” is “Big Night” in a bowling alley. That 1996 dramedy, with Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub playing two … Continue reading →

July 1, a pic about a crowded freeway and Russell C. as that a-hole in a pick-em-up truck you don’t want to be tangling with. Will theaters open in time for this?

The eye-roll, that universal symbol for “You gotta be kidding me,” gets a fearsome workout in “Si, Mi Amor,” a candy-colored rom-com bauble from Peru. It’s as if the cast recognizes that many of the comic tropes and gender stereotypes … Continue reading →

There must be a template in a screenwriting textbook, or a “Thriller Writing for Dummies” edition that has to “protagonist finds a BUTTLOAD of cash” scenario that every lazy hack under the midnight sun can use as guideline. Because heaven … Continue reading →

If “accuracy” should never supersede the demands of “story” in a screen biography, then Josh Trank’s “comeback,” an account of the last months of mobster Al Capone’s life, can be dismissed as a total write-off. Starring Tom Hardy in a … Continue reading →

How bad is the Colombian farce “No Andaba Muerto, Estaba de Parrando,” clumsily translated to “Death Can Wait” on your English language Netflix menu? After flailing away for what seems like forever, setting up “You have six weeks to live” … Continue reading →